Octopus Mom

Reproduction is the final stage of life for an octopus. During this stage all the octopus mom’s energy is directed to producing and caring for her eggs. I didn’t know that! One remarkable octopus mom brooded her eggs for four and a half years. By this I mean she kept a constant vigil over them protecting them from predators and constantly blowing water over them to bathe them in the oxygen they needed to survive. The octopus mom (with her brood of 160 eggs) that I’m writing about was first observed in 2007 by some folks from Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute clinging to a rocky ledge about 1400 meters down in a submarine canyon in the middle of Monterey Bay in the Pacific Ocean. Over the following four and a half years the researchers made 18 visits to the same area and saw that this same octopus mom, with distinctive scars and markings for identification, was still on the job. This octopus mom like all others to date was never observed leaving her post to eat or anything and the researchers think the very cold temperatures in the pacific may have helped slow her metabolism enough to allow the mom to last the four and a half years. On their last trip to the ledge they only saw remnants of hatched egg capsules. The previous record for length of brooding time was held by a deep sea shrimp that carries its eggs for 20 months. The octopus mom’s dedication surpassed that record in a big way. This only adds to my perspective on the nine months and the years of childhood that follow for human moms. Moms, no matter the species, are special.